If you are thinking about getting a PE (professional engineering) license, then you are reading the right article! I’m going to tell you 3 good reasons why you should get your professional engineering license and 5 easy steps to get the process started.
3 Good Reasons Why You Need a Professional Engineering License
More Recognition
It might seem a bit silly, but you will be taken more seriously at work after you obtain your professional engineering license. You will definitely see a difference before and after you get your license of how your coworkers (and even your boss) interact with you. Having a license makes you appear to be a more “competent engineer” (which you already are!) to others even if nothing changes from before to after the exam.
Better Pay
You will get paid more after you get your professional engineering license because you are a more valuable asset to your employer since public works engineering projects need to be stamped and signed by a professional engineer. For engineering firms, having more licensed engineers will increase their ability to get more work with potential clients. I remember after I got my PE license, my company gave me an automatic pay increase. I also know of other friends who got one time bonuses from their employers for passing the PE exam. Even if your employer doesn’t give a one time salary adjustment or bonus, you are likely to get a good raise from your next appraisal because employers know that an employee with a PE license is more in demand in the job market.
Professional Advancement
Having a professional engineering license will open you up to many new opportunities. If you are thinking about switching employers, many employment posts for higher title/salary positions require you to have a professional engineering license. In fact, for some government jobs, having a professional engineering license is mandatory for you to advance to the next level. In addition, if you are thinking about starting your own engineering consulting business in the future, getting a professional engineering license it is a must. You need the license for you to stamp engineering drawings for clients and no one is going to hire you to do work for them if you don’t have a license.
5 Easy Steps to Get Started on your PE Journey
Step 1: FE/EIT Exam
In addition to the education requirements, you will need to have taken and passed the FE/EIT (Fundamental of Engineering/Engineer-In-Training) exam. Check out my post EIT/FE Exam: Everything You Ever Want to Know About It if you want to learn more. Note that for some states you don’t need to have passed the FE/EIT exam to qualify to take the PE exam if you have a PhD degree and/or if you have a lot of professional working experience. Check with your state engineering board for the exemption requirements.
Step 2: Sign Up for the Exam
The PE exam is currently offered twice a year in April and October before moving to year round computer-based testing starting April 2022. Check with your state engineering board for application deadlines and whether you are qualified to take the PE Exam. Requirements vary from state to state, so make sure you read through all the requirements on your state engineering board website to make sure you can take the test. Pay extra attention to the application deadlines because some states have very early sign-up deadlines (i.e. for example, in California, you need to get your application in to the state board by early May if you want to take the October exam). If you find that you are not yet qualified to take the test, then it’s a good time to beef up on your qualifying professional experience and reconnect/reconfirm with your professional references who will need to vouch for you on the exam application when the time arrives.
In addition to your state board, you will also need to sign up with NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying) in order to take the PE exam. The deadline to sign up for the exam with NCEES is often different from the application deadline of your state board, so make sure you sign up for BOTH before their respective deadlines. After you finished with signing up for the exams, be sure to check your employer’s policy for reimbursement of the exam sign up fees as you are likely to get reimbursed for it. If you are self-employed, check with your tax consultant to see if you can write off the exam fees as part of your business expense.
Step 3: Gather References and Study Materials
Familiarize yourself with the NCEES exam specifications and design standards for your specific PE exam. The NCEES exam specifications tell you what you are expected to know for the exam to help you focus on your studies. The design standards are design references NCEES expects you to know and bring to the exam. If a specific design standard is listed on the NCEES design standards list, then there’s a high likelihood that at least one exam question will come from that design standard. Make sure you have access to these design standards while studying and remember to bring them to the exam.
I also recommend you buy good study reference materials for the exam. They will save you a lot of time by teaching/refreshing you on topics that are on the exam specifications. I used and studied the PE Civil Reference Manual by PPI (Professional Publications, Inc.) for my Civil PE exam and was able to pass that exam on the first try!
Step 4: Sign Up for Review Course
In addition to buying good study materials, I recommend you sign up for a review course. Although some of us can study on our own, sometimes it’s easier to learn by having a live instructor explain concepts to you and be able to interact with the instructor on the spot. The good news is that there are now online review courses for the PE exam so you can attend class right from the comfort of your home. I recommend you look into the PE review course offerings from PPI because I know of many engineers that signed up for these review courses and were able to successfully pass the exam. In fact, I used to teach these review classes myself so I know how valuable they are. Click here to learn more about the PPI review course offerings.
Step 5: Study! Study! Study!
Studying is probably the most time consuming and unpleasant task that you need to do to get your professional engineering license. However, I’m here to help! You can read this post to learn when is a good time to get started on studying and how much studying you need to do. You can also check out the rest of my website for additional studying tips.
Are you ready to get your Professional Engineering license? #resolvetogetlicensed and get moving!